Mr. Chamberlain then proceeded to remark that the Tories are
in office but the Radicals in power, and that the Treasury Bench of the stop-gap Government is filled with "an eccentric combination," the new performers having donned the old com- pany's clothes. Sir Michael Hicks-Beach had recently made a speech against applying Coercion in Ireland at a time when crime had disappeared, which was precisely the speech that might have been expected from Mr. John Morley if he had spoken on the amendment of which he gave notice; and he quizzed Mr. Arthur Balfour for his long speech against the Medical Relief Bill, which Mr. Balfour nevertheless recommended to the acceptance of the House of Commons solely on the ground that it was the only way of taking the wind out of Mr. Chamberlain's sails. "If I denounce the State Church," asked Mr. Chamberlain, "will they disestablish it? If I call for free schools, will they abolish school fees ? If I condemn pensions, will they relinquish their own ? After the debate the other night, a Member of the House of Commons came up to me and said, 'My dear fellow, pray be careful what you say, for if you were to speak disrespectfully of the Ten Commandments, I believe that Balfour would bring in a Bill immediately to repeal them.'" "On the whole, I suppose," he added, after giving other illustrations, "that we may regard this servile imitation with gratification."
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